“It’s been a quarter-century since a former criminal defense lawyer sat on the Supreme Court.

“Since then, crime has fallen by half. Incarceration has risen, then fallen (slightly) again. Americans are becoming more and more critical of the “tough-on-crime” mindset that defined the end of the 20th century, and more skeptical that police and prosecutors will always use their powers for good — in other words, they’re coming in line with how defense lawyers see the world.

“But when Barack Obama made his third (and likely final) Supreme Court nomination last week, he nominated Merrick Garland.

“Garland is a former prosecutor with a tough-on-crime record. The Court already has two ex-prosecutors.”